Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom employees go on strike

For the first time in 30 years, newsroom employees at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have gone on strike.
Effective at noon Tuesday, more than 100 writers, editors and designers at the newspaper walked off the job, joining workers on the picket line from the Post-Gazette’s distribution, advertising and production unions. Those employees went on strike two weeks ago, contending Block Communications, which owns the Post-Gazette and The Blade in Toledo, Ohio, stripped them of their health care coverage after refusing to pay an additional $19 per week. The newsroom employees, represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, say they are striking over unfair labor practices.
Zack Tanner, the union’s president, said workers who produce the Post-Gazette “are taking a stand against the hostile and illegal treatment” they say they have been subject to since Post-Gazette management declared an impasse two years ago in long-running contract negotiations. The union said new working conditions were imposed unilaterally, vacation time was taken away, salaries were sliced and a new health insurance plan was more costly and offered less coverage. The National Labor Relations Board recently heard the Newspaper Guild’s unfair labor claims, and the union said it is anticipating “a major victory coming out of this hearing.”
Tanner said both sides would be filing briefs before a mid-November deadline, and a ruling would likely come in January or February. He added, “Our demands aren’t too complicated,” and they include a return to the bargaining table and reinstating the terms of the expired contract.
Allison Latcheran, a spokeswoman for the Post-Gazette, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A statement by the company on the Post-Gazette website said it was waiting on the National Labor Relations Board ruling and “are confident the company will prevail.” It also said it increased the top wage scales for employees of the Newspaper Guild by 8%, and the company offered several proposals to other striking workers that were rejected, including enrollment in the company’s health care plan.
“None of these solutions were accepted,” the statement said. It concluded, “We welcome our employees back at any time.” It also vowed that the Post-Gazette “will continue to serve the Pittsburgh community, our readers, and advertisers, despite any work stoppage.”
The last time Pittsburgh saw a newspaper strike was in 1992, and it dragged on for eight months. It was sparked when Teamsters employed by the Pittsburgh Press stopped work over a plan by owner Scripps-Howard to eliminate 450 jobs, along with the part-time jobs of the newspaper carriers who delivered the paper. The Post-Gazette was in a joint operating agreement with the Press, so it too stopped printing. By the time the dust settled, Scripps-Howard sold the Press to Block Communications, which closed it, making the Post-Gazette the city’s only daily newspaper.
Unlike 30 years ago, the Post-Gazette is now mostly an online entity – it only offers its readers a print edition two days a week, on Thursday and Sunday. Striking advertising, production and distribution workers have urged readers to cancel their subscriptions to the Post-Gazette and withhold advertising. Tanner acknowledged that there is some risk that readers and advertisers won’t return to the Post-Gazette if a strike is prolonged, but, he said, “the Post-Gazette needs to understand that its workers not being back would be much worse.”